Governor Davis H. Waite
The strikers' ace-in-the-hole was the strong sympathy of Davis H.
Waite. Waite had a wild, flowing white mane and beard that made him
look like an Old Testament prophet who had survived a strike by lightning.
Waite favored an income tax, the eight-hour work day, the secret ballot
and the direct popular election of U.S. Senators. In 1892 he became
the only Populist in America to be elected governor.

During 1892 Waite achieved notoriety by stating in public, "It is infinitely better that
blood should flow to our horses' bridles than our national liberties
should be destroyed."

Cripple Creek - January 5, 1893

After unleashing that gem, he was known across the state as "Old
Bloody Bridles Waite." Following the Silver Crash of 1893, Waite
proposed that Colorado should buy up the surplus silver at the old
price to be sent to Mexico, where cheap labor would mint it into "Fandango
Dollars." Then it could be circulated in the state. It is not
hard to see why Waite was not re-elected to a second term as governor.

Armed against saboteurs with bayonet and pistol, a
Colorado miltiaman guards a
Leadville mine in an 1896 lockout of union miners.

Waite sent the State Militia to the district, in part, because of
his friendship with Calderwood and also a request from El Paso County
Sheriff Frank Bowers. The Militia was under the inept command of General
Thomas Tarsney. Ex-policemen and firemen from Denver hated Waite for
firing them during the City Hall War. One-hundred and twenty-five
of them were hired and deputized to attack Bull Hill and embarrass
Waite.

Battle of Bull Hill
The Militia was there to play the role of spoiler; keeping the sheriffs
department raiding parties from tangling with the unionists who were
entrenched in a jerry-riged fort upon Bull Cliff. The fort was equipped
with fake log cannons which were pointed at the town of Victor below.
A crude bow gun propelled beer bottles filled with dynamite down the
hill toward the hired mercenaries.

Victor never fully recovered from its disastrous fire
of 1899.

Meanwhile, up at Altman, the miners loaded a flatcar with explosives
and rolled it downhill toward the deputies from Denver. It jumped
the track on a curve, exploded and killed two cows. Finally, the Denver
deputies captured five strikers. The whole event, worthy of a Gilbert
and Sullivan operetta, has been called the "Battle of Bull Hill."

The Agreement
Governor Waite arbitrated for the union and on June 10, 1894, an agreement
was signed. The union had won the three dollars pay for an eight-hour
work day.

An operator in a mining shaft house works the controls
of the steam-driven hoist
that raises and lowers cages carrying men and ore. Hoistmen in the
1890s earned four dollars a day -
a dollar more than their colleagues down below.

General Tarsney
The unionists' hatred for General Tarsney was confirmed later that
month. He was seized in Colorado Springs and taken out of town, where
tar and feathers were applied all over his body. Tarsney was abandoned
beside the northbound railroad tracks and told to walk.

Law Enforcement
After the strike, non-union miners were driven from town and the deputy
sheriffs were arrested by the union. For self-protection, mining company
officials brought in outsiders, financing much of the county's law
enforcement activities themselves.

Mine owner Eben Smith later recalled in a note to another employer
that,"During the late war in Cripple
Creek, you and I brought 100 rifles and ten thousand rounds of ammunition..."

Pinkerton detectives were also brought in by company men. Nursing
his wounds at the end of the troubles, Smith confided to a friend,
"The only consolation we have
is the hope to elect a decent man as our next governor..."

Pressured by Governor Waite to accept the unions demands, Cripple
Creek mine owners began to prepare for the next conflict.